


Zombie

by idoah



Category: Original Work
Genre: Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, F/M, Zombie Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-11-20
Updated: 2017-06-05
Packaged: 2018-09-01 03:32:40
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 3
Words: 12,401
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8605669
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idoah/pseuds/idoah
Summary: Zombie breakout occurs and friends are trying to stick together. Drama unfolds as the group tries to hold it all together by strings. (sorry i suck a summaries)





	1. Best Dressed for Death

It’s been one week since it started. The streets are left deserted. Cars stalled on road sides and shops left in the same condition they were abandoned in. The only change was the thin layer of dust laying over everything.  
Allison and Maddy, 18, leaned against a bookshelf of a now abandoned bookstore. Downtown Detroit had been completely stranded by shop owners and civilians to escape the chaos. Few families remained, and many children were separated from their parents.  
“Do you think they’ll get the message?” asked Allison, pulling her brown hair back into a ponytail, staring out the window.  
“Hopefully,” Replied Maddy, pushing up her more than bent glasses.  
When the outbreak first occurred, the infected wandered the streets and after a bad run in with one rather large male infected Maddys glasses were bent, broken and missing a lens. That day Allison and Maddy’s close friends  
A few minutes later, they were supposed to have gotten a text.  
Minutes later, a tall, buff, dark haired guy walked in carrying a backpack. He suspiciously turned back before walking inside and spotting Maddy and Allison in dirtied clothes.  
“ I bought some stuff from a small grocery store,” he shrugged, kneeling down and opening the backpack to show them a few bruised oranges and a singular bag of flamin’ hot oven baked Cheetos. “It was the last bag,” He finished, tossing it at Allison, who caught it gingerly.  
“Oh my god…” Allison held the bag firmly against her chest, careful not to crush the chips inside, “Bless your soul.”  
Kevin zipped up the backpack and stood up, placing it back over his broad shoulders.  
A couple of blocks down, three boys, two of which were brothers, sat on a bench.  
Noah, the blonde hair blue eyed, younger brother, search the map for the bookstore’s address. They had to grab one from a run down tourist booth after their car broke down in the city  
“I think we’re supposed to head east to get there, on Woodward Ave“  
“You’re the one holding the map,” mocked Keith, the older brother with brown shoulder length hair and eyes..  
The last person, Konstantine, who was by far the tallest, reaching 6’5 in total. Wavy dirty blonde hair matted on top of his head.  
After walking in a few circles, they finally found the store tucked between two tall business buildings.  
“I thought you got lost or died or something terrible. Jesus,” Maddy hugged Keith and Noah tightly, “what'd you bring?”  
“Just a few pairs of clothes” answered Noah looking over everyone, “What about Erin, Marissa, and Grayce?”  
“They should be on their way by now,” replied a worried Konstantine who attempted to tidy his messy hair.  
“I hope so. It's been almost been a hour since we sent the text,” added Allison, checking the time on her phone.  
“Maybe we should get a search party to look for them,” Kevin grabbed the backpack standing up.  
“And that's how we lose people,” Noah looked over at Kevin, who was ready to go by the door.  
“I got here alone, if there was three of them, they should be here by now,” Kevin added, looking back at the group and sighed, “you're right.” Kevin moved back to where he was sitting against the wall previously and slouched down.  
An hour of silence passed before deathly groans started appearing in the distance. A small growing hoard of zombies were gathering down the street.  
Foam dripped from their mouths as they shuffled down the boulevard. The stench of rotting flesh was smelled before they were seen. Rotten flesh slid off liquified muscle. It landed on the ground with a sickening squish. Blood dripped from open mouths, left over from their last meal. Tattered clothes hinted to their previous lives.  
There was a young child shuffling behind the larger group. She was still in her Sunday's best. Her left leg was torn to shreds, her foot missing, she limped along on a bloody stump. The flesh had already fallen off and just the bone was left. It was cracked and splintered.  
She was holding something. The closer she got the easier it was to identify. It was a woman's hand, torn off at the wrist. The veins and muscles dangled down from the opening. The group turned towards the hoard, some of them dropping their items.  
“These sons a bitches just don't give, do they?” Allison muttered as she wiped sweat from her forehead. Her blue-green eyes had already begun to lose the spark that they once had.  
Maddy wasn't the fighter Allison was. Sure she could fight but not like Allison could. When all this started it was Allison who cleared the bookstore with Maddy in tow. Allison had come to the conclusion that Maddy was just too maternal to be the way Allison was.  
“Okay I'm not saying we should just leave Ris, Grayce and Erin but there's a whole hoard of infected coming our way,” Maddy stated already packing up her stuff.  
“I'll take care of it,” Allison picked up a fallen metal pipe and headed out the door before anyone could stop her.  
She flung open the glass door, the pipe over her shoulder. She approached the girl ahead of her, and slammed the pipe into the girl’s chest. The crunching of bones could be heard from the building, making Maddy shutter and hide behind Keith.  
She continued to smash the small girl, blood splattering over her clothes and against her face until she was banging a broken pipe on the street, rotted flesh and bones everywhere.  
She continued to bash in the little girl’s face until nothing remained but a liquid mix of blood, muscle, a small amount of cartilage, and rotting, black flesh.  
The metal pipe started to break and bend as it hit the cement beneath the child's pulverised head. The group watched on in horror as she continued to hit the cement, the zombified child’s quickly becoming a puddle on the ground. Konstantine walked out from inside the building and grabbed Allison’s shoulder, tugging her back.  
“I… I think she's had enough,” he said, holding out a hand. Allison took one more swing before standing up. She dropped the pipe, which clattered to the ground with a loud clang. She stared at body, and then at Konstantine.  
Her face was as cold and hard as the pipe she beat the child with. Except it wasn't bent and broken. It was straight. It had an intention. She looked back at the body, and began to nod.  
The group filed out of the building, each of them sharing a shocked face as they took a look at the body, and then Allison's blood splattered face. Maddy surged forward and grabbed her arms.  
“Hey! C’mon. You killed another one! That's one less infected thing we have to face.” She wiped some of the partially dried blood from her face. “But… don't you think you went a bit overboard?” Maddy continued to wipe blood from Allisons face with her sleeves and the flannel she had wrapped around her waist.  
“Probably,” Allison muttered. Keith shook his head at Maddy’s poor attempt of normalizing everything. Maddys eyes finally wandered from Allison’s bloodied face to the mutilated girl on the ground. Horrified, Maddy backed up into Keith, who wrapped his arms around her shoulders and turned her body towards his, cradling her like a child.  
“That was a little girl Keith…” Keith hushed Maddy and moved back, still holding her against him.  
“What was that about? Are you okay Allison?” Kevin asked, staring between the pipe, the zombie guts, and Allison.  
She turned her head to stare at the girl, “Oh shit,” she mumbled, shaking her head before placing it in her hands.  
“It's okay, let's go back inside and settle down for the night, I'm sure the rest of them will be here in the morning.” Konstantine patted Allison’s back and gently pulled her into the bookstore, followed by everyone else.  
No one would get any sleep tonight.


	2. Bandaid on a Rotting Wound

The only people who ended up sleeping that night were Allison and Maddy. Allison passed out from stress and Maddy because she's a weakling and passes out at 12am even after drinking large amounts of caffeine.

Keith sat across the room, watching Maddy fitfully sleep. The two of them maybe have broken up with each other weeks before, but that didn't stop them from caring for one another with everything they had. 

Noah and Konstantine and found some paper and a pen under the cashier's counter and took an inventory of what they had, including the clothes on their backs and any makeshift weapons people have brought. 

Kevin sat in front, carefully examining the streets ahead, looking for the others missing in the group. 

_ They should be here by now…  _ Kevin thought to himself, beginning to pace nervously with his makeshift spear in hand. 

Hours continued on, the only sounds were of the light rain which began to fall from the clouded night sky. 

Kevin continued to watch, taking Noah's watch shift for him. From the corner of his eye, he spotted a zombie. Then another. And three more. A horde of at least 15-20 had appeared from around the corner down the block, all of which looked ready for a midnight snack. 

Groans of angry were cried out in the night from white foaming mouths, as they sped up, catching the scent of everyone in the bookstore. 

Kevin hurriedly turned around in horror, “Everyone in the back room, now,” he ordered, pointing to the employees only room. 

“Wait, what's wrong?” Konstantine stood up and walked to the window, staring at the mass of approaching walkers. “Let's go,” he nodded, making sure everyone was out of the room before shoving a chair against the door handle to barricade them in. 

“Well now we can't get out if we need to!” Cried out a frustrated Allison, who was still pissed she had to wake up. 

“There's a small window in the back, we could crawl out of that,” Noah pointed to a small 3x3 window, 5 feet off the ground. 

“But what about the others? What if they show up and get mauled?!” Kevin said running his hands through his hair. 

“Then we hope to god they're-” Konstantine was cut off by the pounding of glass, the limp bodies hitting the glass. Everyone peered out through the thin window of the door, watching them slam themselves repeatedly into the large window, the sound of flesh being crushed made Allison look away from the sight. 

After half an hour, everyone had managed to find something they could beat a zombie to death with which included: A metal mop, a makeshift pitch fork from a plastic broom handle and metal coat hangers, and pieces of a broken metal shelf.

One last zombie rammed into the glass, causing it to spider out. Keith grabbed a fire extinguishing and crashed it through the back window, shattering glass all over the floor of the small room. 

The fates must've favored them that night, because as the zombies began to congregate at the window, a car could be heard down the road. Everyone watched fearfully, not knowing who in their right mind would drive a car that loud in the zombie apocalypse. Are they trying to get themselves killed?!

CRASH! The sound of thick glass shattering and a noisy car busted through the window, ramming into all of the risen dead, the instant crunch of bones and squish of rotting flesh could be heard from miles away. 

“Who the fuck…” Maddy exclaimed, looking among the others faces, who's petrified and horrified looked matched hers.

From out of the car stepping Marissa from the passenger seat. Then Drew and Erin in the back, and finally Grayce, who had a large cut going down the left side of her face from shattered glass. 

Instantly people shoved through the door, finalizing the death of any zombies not killed by the car. 

“Why. The hell. Are you. So GOD DAMN LATE?! WE WERE WORRIED SICK!!” yelled Allison, who was held back by Maddy and Kevin. 

“We found a car, picked up drew, and got Maddy some new glasses,” she held up them up for everyone to see, “along with other supplies in the trunk,” Marisa stated blatantly, before spotting Konstantine and running up to hug him. “Are you alright?” She managed to say, checking him for injuries. 

“I'm fine, I'm fine. You're the who crashed through the window,” Konstantine looked down in the dim light into Marisa’s blue eyes. “I'm glad you’re safe,” he leaned down, placing one hand on the back of her neck and pressing his lips to hers, relieved. 

Maddy and Noah had gotten over to Erin, checking on her, who was in perfect working order and playing her 3DS. 

Kevin walked over to a slouched down Grayce, gingerly holding an old shirt against her face. Blood was soaking through slightly. “What happened?” He held her arms lightly, huddled below her and looking up.

“I crashed through a window and I’m perfectly fine,” Grayce said sarcastically, moving the bandage away from the cut running from above her left eyebrow down to the center of her high cheekbones. “The airbag didn't go off, so between the shattered glass and my face slamming into the steering wheel, I'm pretty sure I've got a concussion. Wouldn’t be the first one that’s for sure.”

Kevin carefully moved her long blonde her away from from the wound to look at it. “Do you think it'll need stitches?” He asked, carefully putting the rag back against her face. 

“Maybe, I haven't seen it yet. The shock and adrenaline is keeping it from hurting too much for now,” she rested her head on Kevin's shoulder tiredly. “You're okay though, right?” She moved back, examining him carefully. 

“Yes of course. I'm fine, I'm just glad you got here safely.” He pulled her into a hug, before letting go and checking on Drew. 

“You good?” Kevin asked, leaving Grayce to pop the trunk. 

“Slightly terrified, but pretty good,” Drew said, stretching his long arms over his head. 

Naturally Maddy and Allison were now making gagging noises as Konstantine and Marissa kissed. 

Konstantine moved his lips from Marissas, “You two are just jealous,” he smirked. 

Allison looked Konstantine dead in the eyes and questioned sarcastically “Of?” Maddy howled with laughter. 

“Who needs men when we have us women!?” Maddy exclaimed excitedly and wrapped her arms around Allison, Erin and Grayce. In response Keith rolled his chocolate brown eyes. 

“You seemed to have needed me  _ a lot  _ many nights ago,” Keith muttered. 

Maddy and Allison both glared in response. 

“Shut up,” Maddy said as she turned bright red. 

The group took the following minutes of silence to get everything in order. Allison packed up the remaining stuff in everyone's bags, while Kevin and Konstantine kept watch for more infected. Noah and Keith raided the nearby stores  in hopes of finding some sort of survival gear, but all they got was some rope and a tiny Swiss Army knife. 

Erin was still playing her 3DS which was slowing losing power, but nobody said anything about that. Marissa, Maddy, Grayce and Drew attempted to remove all the glass shards from the car and their hair. 

“So… Where are we going? I mean, we can't stay in the city for long,” Drew said as he swept the remaining debris off the hood of the car. 

“I say we find medical supplies. I know it'll be hard, but if we're planning on leaving the city, we should find a hospital,” Erin said.

“Grayce is going to need stitches,” Kevin gestured to her cut up face. “Erin you can do that right?” 

“I can try,” Erin said placing a bag into the trunk of the car. She’s a training med student, so she has some hands on experience in the medical field.  

“I'll drive,” Konstantine said sitting in the driver's seat. Everyone packed into the car, with Grayce laying down in the back, the pain finally setting in.

“We should camp out at my hunting cabin. I highly doubt there'll be too many zombies in the forest,” offered Marisa, pulling on a camo sweatshirt from her bag. 

“We're going to need a bigger car. Maybe a bus…?” Maddy mumbled as she sat on the floor. 

“You can sit on my lap if you wanted to? The floor looks pretty damn nasty.” Drew offered kindly. Keith's sharp glare twisted around to Drew as Maddy gratefully accepted. 

“Thanks buddy-” Maddy chirped and was suddenly jolted backwards into Keith's lap. 

“You can sit here.” Keith grumpily mumbled. Allison rolled her eyes and muttered something about stupid alpha males. 

“..bleh bleh bleh….weed,” Maddy commented and crossed her arms. Keith rolled his eyes. 

“Why are you like this?” He asks and looks at the back of her head. 

“Why are  _ you  _ like this?” Maddy mocked. 

“You're the one who started it,” Keith continued, staring at Maddy, who could feel his eyes on the back of her head. 

“Jealousy’s a bitch,” Grayce mumbled from the back. 

“This is none of your business,” Maddy turned to face her angrily. 

“It is when I'm injured and you two decide to start shit after I saved your asses and risked my life for you.” Grayce chided the two of them. 

“Download Bleach.kys,” Konstantine laughed and yelled to the couple. Marissa smirked and leaned over and held his free hand. Buildings flew past them as they raced down Woodward Avenue. 

The car was finally silent and some slept while others just sat quietly. Maddy finally succumbed to her sleepiness and leaned back against Keith. 

Drew had fallen asleep on Allison’s shoulder, and snored lightly, mumbling occasionally in his sleep. Allison dared not move. 

The sun began to rise as they reached a hospital, and everyone woke up as they pulled into the parking lots

“Everyone, eyes open. We're here,” Konstantine said, slowly grabbing his metal shelf piece and helping Marissa out. 

Kevin moved to the back and helped Grayce out. He put his arm around her waist and attempt to help her limp inside, but didn't get very far, when she fell to her knees and puked in the grass. 

“I'm fine, I'll be fine, let's keep going,” Grayce insisted. 

“You guys go ahead and check out the area. I'll stay back with Grayce,” Kevin prompted the rest of the group. As they walked away, Noah flashed her a dirty look as he brought up the rear of the group. 

“You should've just gone with them!” Grayce yelled, shoving him slightly. 

“Why? So if you got attacked, you'd die? How about we don't?” He stroked her hair. 

She sighed leaning against him, “I hate when you're right.” 

Konstantine and Allison walked inside through the hospital doors first. It was white and a baby blue in the inside. pamphlets and other stray papers littered the floor across the waiting room and a slight groaning noise was upstairs. 

“We aren't the first ones here…” mumbled Drew, clutching his makeshift pitchfork. 

“We need to do this quick, before anyone else shows up,” Noah grumbled heading down the main hallway. 

The group ended up splitting in half, one to gather supplies and one to clear rooms and find a place to stitch Grayce up. 

The gatherers included: Maddy, Allison, Drew, and Marissa. Soon, a few good shots of numbing syrup and antibiotics from cabinets were shoved into bags. 

“Um, well how's everybody?” Maddy pathetically tried to make conversation. Drew gave Maddy the  _ are you a fucking idiot  _ look and she shut right up. Allison laughed at Maddy when she looked down like a kicked puppy dog. 

Erin looked up from the cabinet she had been rummaging through. “Has anyone seen Noah?” She spoke out to the silenced group members. 

“Maybe you should check the chapel,” Allison said sarcastically. That's when Maddy gave her the  _ are you a fucking idiot look.  _

Erin glared along with Maddy and finally muttered, “I think I will.” Proudly, Erin stomped off. Marissa, who had been silent throughout the whole confrontation, swung her head around to Allison. 

“Now why don't you grow up? It's already tense enough without your bullshit.” She defended Erin and Noah fiercely. Allison glared back and from there the two had a silent agreement. 

Erin roamed the halls and looked at a multitude of signs. “Okay now where is the chapel?! I mean Jesus, I've been walking for thirty minutes!” Erin exaggerated. 

After another five minutes of walking Erin fell upon the chapel. She readied the scalpel she’d found and pushed her skinny body through the already open door. 

There sat the eighteen year old blond hair, blue eyed boy. Noah's head was positioned downwards as if he was asleep but Erin knew better. She silently walked up beside his sitting figure and ungracefully sat beside him. 

Noah opened one crystal blue eye and looked at her. “You aren't here to pray, are you?” He asked genuinely curious. He knew that Erin would accompany her mother to church every Sunday, but he never thought she enjoyed it.

“No, I was just looking for you. What're you praying about?” Erin nervously tapped her foot against the dark oak floor. Noah closed his open eye and went silent for two minutes. 

Once he was seemingly finished praying he stood up. 

“It's the end of the world Erin. What should I be praying for?” Noah mumbled as he began to walk away. Erin followed behind Noah in tow. 

“You’re the one praying, not me,” Erin responded as they walked down the quiet hallway, their footsteps echoing around them.

“We all should be.” The rest of the walk was in silence.

Silently they met up with the others, who had found a working room to stitch up Grayce. 

“So here’s the deal, we can either open up another bottle to fully numb and waste half a bottle, or we can use what’s already opened,” Erin said pulling on rubber gloves and dabbing the wound with water to clean the cut.

“How bad will it hurt if I only use half the bottle?” Grayce asked, her brown eyes focused on the beige wall in front of her.

“Well there isn’t a lot of muscle or fat on your forehead, so that piece will hurt pretty bad,” she stated, pulling a clean syringe out of a blue medical grade, plastic bag.

“Just use the half bottle, I don’t want to waste anymore than necessary,” Grayce reached for Kevin’s hand over the bed, squeezing tightly. By then everyone had packed inside or around the room, prepared for the procedure.

“Okay, I’m going to do topical numbing first to try and lessen the pain,” She dabbed a white paste on the cut, which stung Grayce’s skin. The blonde gritted her teeth together bracing herself for the real pain. Erin gave Grayce the shot, carefully distributing the medication under her skin.

“I’m going to start stitching, everyone might want to leave the room,” Erin said, glancing around the room. She positioned herself over the cut, lightly pressing together both sides and quickly shoving it through both pieces of flesh. Grayce instantly cried out, crushing Kevin’s hand with her own.

“Grayce, I need you to keep your mouth closed. If you scream, I won’t be able to stitch straight. You’re tough, you can do this,” Erin shoved a towel into Grayce’s mouth and quickly finished the top portion on her forehead. Tears streamed from her brown eyes, stinging the bloodied wound further. 

“I’m almost done, promise,” Erin said with a touch of pity, moving down to complete the stitches on her cheek. The whole time, Grayce racked with tears, her chest tightened with every breath. 

After the longest 10 minutes of Grayce’s life, Erin took the makeshift gag and wiped the wound clear of blood. 

“Thank you Erin,” Kevin nodded to her as she left the room, throwing away the used gloves and syringes. “You’re okay,” Kevin moved gently over to Grayce, sitting on the edge of her bed and cradling her, rocking back and forth slowly. “It’s over now, it’s okay.” 

While Kevin was comforting Grayce, everyone worked on locking down the hospital's doors and windows, making sure there’d be no unexpected surprises from the dead or living. 

Afterwards, Allison and Drew were down in the East wing looking for a back up generator, assuming it hadn’t been stolen already. Allison watched guard as Drew crawled through the thin janitor’s closet window. 

“It’s really dark in here,” Drew commented, moving his hands around blindly in the room.

“We should just get what we came here for and get out,” Allison looked around down the hallways, her grip on a thin metal bar tightening. Groaning could be heard from down the hallway, problem was, they were standing at an intersection of hallways. ?

From the right, a limping patient still wearing a hospital gown, made it’s way towards her. It was a woman, brown hair with gray roots were pulled up into a messy bun. A hunk of her left forearm was missing. 

“Drew…” Allison called, readying the weapon, “we’ve got one.” 

“Hu?” Drew answered, crawling out of the small room in back. 

“A zombie, Drew!” Allison backed up as it approached, its glassy eyes staring through her. 

“A what? OH SHIT!” Drew backed out, attempting to get through the window to help her, but the broken glass cut his hand causing him to recoil in pain. Blood trickled down his forearm as he grabbed an old rag off the bench and pressed it into the wound. 

Allison, more afraid of herself than the zombie, stood up taller. She stared into it’s glossy eyes and walked towards it, raising the weapon above her head and swinging it down, hitting the infected’s shoulders. 

The husk growled, foam dripping out of her mouth. She charged quickly at Allison, which wasn’t very fast. 

Allison raises the weapon once more, slamming it into it’s neck, breaking the bone with a hideous cracking noise. Allison moved to the side as it reached out to claw her and kicked behind it’s knees, causing it to collapse to the ground. The zombie met the same fate of the little girl, smashed to death on the floor. The risen had fallen. 

By then Drew had found the generator and attempted to start it, but something was broken. He couldn’t figure out what due to the darkness, but they would have to fix it later. He then realized that he could unlock the door from the inside and walked out.

“Hey, you okay?” Drew placed a hand on her shoulder. Allison looked down, noticing the rag wrapped around his hand.

“What happened to your hand?” Allison held it gently and unwrapped it. The cut wasn’t too deep, but it could still get infected. “We should get that washed. Let’s head back.” Allison began to walk away, knowing Drew would follow her back to the man base.

“I found the back-up,” he added awkwardly, following behind her. 

“Oh good, I take it you couldn’t get it started though.” Allison looked back, moving the bar into her other hand.

“Something was broken. It was too dark to see anything.” He moved besides her to grab her forearm. “You never answered my question.”

“Yeah, I’m okay,” Allison looked down, “I don’t know what comes over me when I see them. It’s probably a fight or flight response.” She shrugged looking down at the bar in her hands. Drew wrapped his arms around her, resting his head on her shoulder. 

“I’m just worried. I don’t want to lose you,” he held her tighter. Allison face turned red as she dropped the pipe and returned the well needed hug. The two returned to the room everyone had settled in. 

Night finally began to descend upon the hospital and the group crammed into the hallway outside a hospital room. Konstantine and Marissa laid in on bed in another room, while Grayce claimed the bed on which she was stitched up on.

      “Okay, why do the couples get the beds, I did all the work,” Allison asked as she shook out the hospital sheets she had claimed for herself. Erin's steely eyes flicked over to Allison, not saying a word as she continued to set up her own space. 

        Noah glanced over at Erin with a glimmer of hope in his eyes, but he immediately shut himself down and set up three feet away from her. 

       Drew on the other hand brought in as many blankets as he could find and flopped down next to Allison. He grinned at her and gestured to the blankets, “Want one?” 

Allison made a face and rolled over. Drew looked around at the others, it seemed like no one else  _ needed _ one. He barely managed to cocoon himself in blankets before passing out. 

The first awake was Noah. He stood and stretched, a guttural moan escaped his lips. Carefully, so not to step on anyone, he made his way to the door leading downstairs. 

He quickly counted heads, there were seven sleeping forms. Two were missing.  _ Konstantine and Marissa,  _ Noah thought,  _ Idiots.  _

He turned and walked down the long, drafty hallway. He stopped at the stairs down to the first floor and looked back,  _ I should probably grab a weapon.  _

With that thought he opened a nearby door, hoping it had something sharp in it. After rummaging through some cabinets and drawers Noah was rewarded with a bent pair of scissors. 

With his small weapons in hand he crept down the stairs and into the lobby.  _ Thank god this is a small hospital,  _ he thought. 

Out the windows the sun made the dew on the grass shine. Few of the infected could be seen. Noah pulled a chair into the middle of the open room and sat down. With the weapons in his lap he sat and looked out the window. He ignored the sun and the drew. Instead his eyes followed the nearest infected as it limped around the parking lot. 

After an hour of sitting and watching Noah decided it was time. He rose from the chair, weapons in hand. He searched behind the front desk for the keys. They were in a drawer with some offices supplies. 

Noah looked at the desk, littered with photos of young children and families. He looked away from the photos numbly and up at the doors. Slowly he approached them, stopping one last time to look back at the distraught waiting room. The infected payed no mind to him, as a shaky hand unlocked the door and pushed it open. He quickly shoved the key back into his pocket.

Scissors in hand, he advanced towards the rotten creature, the disgusting stench burned his nose and made his eyes water. 

As it heard his footsteps it turned and shuffled towards him. Noah didn't stop. Instead he surged forward, slamming the weapon into its eye and kicking it in the chest. The thing toppled over, ravenous groans escaping it’s foaming mouth. He knelt over it and brought his fist down on the handle, shoving it farther into its eye socket. 

Noah took the scalpel and with both hands slammed it into the infected’s weak skull. He ripped it out, only to repeat the process many times. 

When it was finally dead once more Noah stopped. He was splattered with black-red blood from the waist up. As he rose, his knees cracked from the sudden change of position. 

He pulled at the syringe but it was stuck. Noah placed his tennis shoe, now covered in filth, on its head and pulled at the syringe, it’s sunken in, soulless eye staring back at him. The syringe suddenly came loose and Noah's foot crushed the infecteds head, spilling it’s soupy brains across the pavement.

The inside of its head seeped into his shoe, it was cold. He wiped his small weapons on the edge of his shirt and turned around. Only to see Kevin standing in the doorway, watching him. 

“You should change your clothes, we don’t want infected guts inside the hospital,” Kevin said, tossing a new pair of jeans and a t-shirt at him. “You okay?” 

“I'm fine,” Noah said, catching the clothes, “Is anyone else up?” Kevin shook his head. 

“Just you and me.” They walked back to the hospital, Kevin glanced at Noah,  _ Is he safe to be around? It’s Noah, what am I talking about. _

Noah fished the key out of pocket and locked the doors. The two made their way up the stairs, neither saying a word. A quiet understanding passed between them.

No one needed to know what happened this morning, not for a while. 

Kevin opened the door to the room where everyone had slept. “Rise and shine!” He yelled and plastered a cheerful smile on his face, “Get your asses up and move.”  

The sleeping forms that littered the ground began to stir. Drew struggled to escape from his blankets. People stretched as Kevin walked to the bed in the middle of the room.

He gently shook Grayce, “You too.” She rolled over and looked at him. Her left eye was swollen and red, a black eye was forming. Other bruises and cuts peppered her body. 

Noah stepped into another room to change. He opened the nearest door and averted his eyes. 

Marissa finished pulling on her jeans and glanced up at him, “Hey Noah, what's up?” Konstantine tossed her a shirt and pulled his own over his head. 

Noah looked up at them, “I was going to change.” He held up the clothes. 

“Okay buddy,” Konstantine said buttoning his pants. Noah glared at the two of them.  _ Idiots.  _ Noah was about to leave the room to change when he remembered. 

“Oh yeah, I hope you two used a condom,” He said snidely before exiting the room. He could faintly hear Marissa shout a number of profanities. He smirked and decided to change his clothes outside the room. He didn't hear Maddy‘s footsteps, as she approached him from behind. 

“You do know that to make friends you actually have to be this thing called  _ nice _ ,” Maddy commented with her arms crossed. Noah snorted in response. “You have the most exhausting personality I have ever encountered Noah Jackson,” she chuckled. Noah pulled his shirt over his head and turned around to face her.

“Well isn't that unfortunate for you,” he said meeting her glare, neither one of them wanted to look away. Finally, Noah rolled his eyes and bent over to tie his shoe, effectively breaking eye contact with the brunette. 

“Walk with me, I need to find scissors and I didn't bring any weapons,” She gestured him forward. He sighed loudly and muttered a forced “Fine.” 

The two comrades wandered through the halls until they finally found some scissors on the floor of an abandoned hallway. Maddy bent down and picked the scissors up, and turned them over in her hands to fully examine them. Without warning, she whipped around to face Noah. 

“Your hair is getting a bit long don’t you think?” Maddy questioned Noah with a mischievous look in her eyes. He glared at her in response.

“You are not going anywhere near my hair with those.” He said angrily. Maddy smirked and pulled out an electric razor from her backpack. 

_ Where the hell did she even get those?! Noah thought as  _ she took measured steps toward the blond-haired boy. 

“C’mon I used to shave my dad's hair all the time. I’m good at it I swear!” She exclaimed fitfully. Noah covered his head with his hands. 

“Your dad was bald Maddy,” Noah stated flatly. Maddy glared at him in response. She looked down at the clippers in her hand. Suddenly Noah was on the floor, Maddy had pushed him over and knelt over him. She grabbed a chunk of the matted, overgrown hair and cut it off. Before she could continue he rolled away from her. 

“Now you have to let me shave it.” Maddy said with a mischievous glint in her eyes. Finally he rolled over and allowed her to shave his head. Maddy happily shaved his head and concentrated on making him look superb. She finally stood up, after what felt like ages, and looked at her finished masterpiece.

“Now it looks great!” She exclaimed, happily looking at Noah’s now shaven head. Suddenly her smile turned sad. 

“Keith never let me cut his,” Maddy said sadly with a smile on her face. Tears started to stream down her golden cheeks and she wiped them away in vain. “Ugh, whenever I th-think about i-it I can’t-t n-not cry. Sorry,” She stuttered as she wiped her eyes with her forearm. Noah looked away.

“Let’s just go,” He said and began to walk off. 

Elsewhere, Allison was fiercely yelling at Drew. “You’re a fucking moron! Don’t scare me like that, asshole!” She yelled. Drew awkwardly looked down at his feet. Even though he stood a foot taller than Allison, she was still the boss to him. 

“Allison let up a bit, it was just a joke, chill,” Konstantine said as he swooped in for Drew's defense. Allison ignored his comment, her fiery rage refusing to dissipate. Drew finally looked up from his feet at her, with his puppy dog eyes. Allison stopped and thought,  _ Was it really worth it? _ Only to close her mouth and glare at him. 

“Just don’t do that again, okay? I don’t like being afraid,” she mumbled softly. Keith observed the two from a safe six feet away. Allison was folding her blankets to distract herself and Drew was smiling like an idiot. 

“Ah, young love,” Konstantine muttered to Marissa. She looked at him like he was an idiot. 

“May I remind you we are the same age as them  _ sweetie _ .” She looked up at him with one eyebrow raised. He simply rolled his eyes and nodded, having dealt with Marissa’s sass before.  _ He’s so strange _ Marissa thought to herself with a smile. Suddenly a loud slam echoed throughout the room as Maddy flung the door open. 

“Presenting the new, and improved, Noah Jackson!” she shouted dramatically and showcased her masterpiece. “He’s strutting his stuff in a fabulous pair of…...of um-” Maddy quickly checked the tag on his jeans, “Calvin Klein Jeans! He’s also rocking a green shirt with a fashionable coffee stain!” Maddy exclaimed while she wiggled her hips, only to look up at Noah, who had been glaring at her the entire time. 

“Oooo, I love your hair, girl! Who did it?” Kevin mocked, which prompted Noah to flash him a murderous glare. 

“I did!” Maddy chimed in, “Perfect, isn’t it? It fits his ‘I have no emotion and I’m going to scowl at everyone’ attitude!” She said, sticking her tongue out. Noah clenched his fists.

“You’ve got five seconds till I beat your face in like Allison beat the little girl,” he said, no ounce of humor in his voice. Shocked, Maddy took a step back. 

“Hey man, that was kinda uncalled for…” She said as she walked towards the group. “Allison did what she had to… and she’s killed more infected than you, I’m sure.” Noah scoffed in response.

“I beg to differ,” he said, his stare piercing through everyone. “I’m going to scout out the rest of the hospital… nobody follow me.” Noah slipped out of the room, as everyone looked at each other, confused.

“I’m gonna follow him,” Allison said as she ran out of the room . 

“They’ll come back… I think,” Marissa hoped. 

Allison ran down the hallways, narrowly avoiding carts and gurneys. She sped around each corner, hoping to find Noah. Right as she raced around another corner, she collided into him, who grunted as they both collapsed to the ground.

“Augh! What are you doing! I said not to follow me!” Noah yelled. Allison sat up, rubbing her wounded tailbone.

“Yeah, well. You’ve been acting weird all morning, so.” She stood up, and winced as she spoke. “I think you should start talking, little man.” Noah stared at her.

“Why should I talk to anyone, especially you?” He retorted as he stood back up and continued walking, Allison followed behind him. 

“What do you mean by  _ that _ ?” she said, now annoyed. Noah responded with a simple grunt. 

“What do  _ I _ mean by that? I mean I’m pissed that I’m stuck with a group like you guys! You are all just so…  _ weak _ . Maddy claims that you’ve killed more infected than I have, but I don’t believe that for one damn  _ second.  _ And don’t even get me started on her! She can barely speak with her stitches, how can she even fight like that? Grayce knows she’s going to get hurt again, so why is she still trying! Why are any of you trying! I’m practically carrying this group at this point!” He inhaled as he took in everything he just said. His face twitched with what could’ve been considered emotion. Pity? Remorse? 

Allison glanced down at the floor and sighed, “Okay.”  She then socked him the jaw. Noah stumbled back, a hand flying to his jaw.

“I don’t want you to ever speak about this group like that again. You hear me? You’re lucky we’ve kept you here this long. You’re just complaining because all of us are capable of showing emotion. Unlike you. You show nothing for the rest of us. You care for  _ nobody _ , not even Keith.” She advanced towards him angrily and shoved him back against the wall. “Also, if we’re all so weak, why don’t you leave? You obviously could do so much better without us,” Allison spat at him, his shirt collar balled up in her fist. 

The moans of the undead slowly began to waft through the uncleared halls. Noah and Allison both looked at each other. 

“Shit,” the two muttered in unison. Slowly the decaying corpses began to traipse through the halls. Allison frantically looked around to find a fire emergency kit. She broke the glass and grabbed the axe. Noah looked at the weapons he had stored in his pockets then looked up at the horde of infected. He ran into the nearest room. A small infected boy, at most nine years old, stumbled towards him. Noah jammed the scalpel into the boy's head and shoved him back. He looked around quickly and thanked God that this boy loved baseball. Noah grabbed the baseball bat that had been set down on the visitors chair. He slammed the bat into the boy's head, effectively killing him once more. 

Noah stood staring at the little boy and jumped when Allison yelled, “Noah get your ass out here and help me!” He turned and with one last look at the body stepped back into the hallway. He ran and stood next to Allison. She had decapitated the first couple stragglers that managed to get ahead of the group. 

“Bet I can kill more undead bastards than you.” Allison claimed. Noah rolled his eyes,

“In your dreams.” and readied his baseball bat. 

 

As the group of infected surged forward Allison and Noah ran to meet them. Allison swung her metal bar, drive it into the shoulder of the infected nearest to her. She reeled back, regaining her balance.   
With a yell she slammed it into the head of the infected that stumbled closer to her. Its soft skull gave way and caving in.  Allison glanced over at Noah who was in the process of stabbing at the undead furiously. Blood was flying everywhere as the two beat and hacked at the hoard of infected. 

When at the last infected had fallen the two turned away from the rotting bodies. The smell and what they just did finally getting to them. Allison carelessly wiped rotting flesh from her face. 

They stood shoulder to shoulder, panting. Allison looked over at Noah, “I got waaay more than you buddy,” he snorted.

“As if,” Allison opened her mouth to reply, a cold barrel pressed her back. She froze. 

Noah looked at her to see why she had said nothing. He was met with a fire extinguisher straight to the back of his head. Allison bit her lip as Noah crumpled to the floor. The man with the gun spoke, 

“Thanks, we appreciate it.” The other man laughed. He was covered in dried blood, he was a big man. His blond hair was matted down with dirt and grime. The man grinned showing off his yellow teeth. Allison looked away. 

The pressure on her back increased. The first man spoke again, his voice was raspy with pain, “Drop the bar.” Allison did as he instructed, the metal clattered to the floor. “Derek, pick up the boy.” The second man, Derek, dropped the fire extinguisher and slung Noah over his shoulder. 

The gun pressed farther into Allison’s back once more, “Walk.” She did what he said. Derek stepped in front of her, picked up the axe with his free hand and grinned. She grimaced  and walked forward. 

“I know there’s more of you, take me to them,” the gunman said as he pushed her through a set doors.

“I- I don’t know what you’re talking about. It’s just me and Noah, I swear-” she was cut off as he kicked in the back of her bad knee, causing her to crumple to the floor and cry out in pain, “Please, I swear,” she continued to lie. The man picked Allison up by her messy ponytail, forcing her to look up at his angry face. His breath smelled just like the undead.

“Tell me where they are,” he looked down at her, then pointed the gun against Noah’s head, “Or I shoot the boy.”

“Okay okay, just please, don’t hurt him,” she begged as he released her hair.

“Walk girly,” he forced her forward once more, pressing the gun to her back.

Allison led them everywhere, up every stairwell, in circles, behinds desks, hoping they’d give up and let them go, instead she got a swift shove and was told to ‘keep walking or your brains will be blown out.’

Eventually they arrived at the third floor in east wing of the hospital. 

“We’re back…” Allison said nervously, stumbling forward. Drew came running out of a room, spinning towards her happily.

“We were so worried! How was Noah? Is everyone-” Drew stopped, realizing the large man with the gun to Allison back,  “Who’s the guy? And why is there a gun against your back?”

“Drew, please get me Erin,” Allison said slowly, looking between Drew and the other rooms. Obviously everyone was smart enough to stay hidden from an intruder. 

Erin cautiously walked out of the room, followed by Drew.

“What do you need, sir?” Erin asked slowly, hands raised by her shoulders.

“Patch me up, and I’ll let your little buddy go.” He pointed to Noah, still slung across Derek’s

shoulder.  Erin looked up at Noah, his lip bloodied and a large bump forming on his head.

“Okay, what’s wrong?” Her eyes flicked  up to Noah’s face, “Please don’t hurt him.” She motioned him into a hospital room and patted the bed in the middle of the room, “Sit, please.” The man sat and moved his arm towards Erin, 

“Fix it, now.” She grabbed a pair of scissors and cut the sleeve, revealing a thin piece of metal going through his forearm. The scissors had reached his elbow when his hand grabbed them, “That is far enough.” 

Erin paused, “Sir, either you let me cut the rest of the sleeve or I cannot help you.” 

“I HAVE A FUCKING BAR IN MY ARM! FIX IT!” he yells, thrusting his arm up into her face. The wound in his arm was the least of his worries, he was bit. He was hysterical and crazy. He was dying.

“Please stop moving,” she forced his arm down against the bed, “I need a scalpel to remove that pipe, one moment,” Erin said cooly. She walks out to see Konstantine talking to Derek.

“Why are you doing this? Holding a boy hostage?” Konstantine throws his arms into the air, staring at him in convincing awe.

“Master said to,” Derek says in a thick southern accent, adjusting his grip on Noah, “Master saved me from undead, so I owe him.”

“Is he using you? You’re worth more than a favor,” the tall boy continued, placing a hand gently on his shoulder. “You can make your own choices. Why would you even hold him hostage? He didn’t do anything to you. Don’t you have a family of your own?” At this, Derek looked down at his feet, puzzled.

“But I need to help master. I may not be a smart man, but I am a loyal man,” he continued, shaking his head.

“You need to help us, hand over Noah, please,” Konstantine begged, holding his arms out, “We’ll give you food and new clothes if you do.” The man nodded after hearing the offer, placing Noah gently in the blond’s arms. Drew ran into the other room, handing him a plastic bag with new clothes and three cans of soup from the hospital kitchen.

“I owe you now,” Derek nodded, taking the bag and clutching it to his chest. He ran past Erin, who was holding a white towel in her hands with a scalpel and pair of Large tweezers and a wire cutter wrapped inside. Slowly she set them down on a metal tray.

“I don’t have any numbing left,”  _ Lie,  _ “So this is going to hurt quite a bit,”  _ Truth. _ Erin carefully picked up the scalpel, positioning it near his arm. But then, she quickly turned, slamming it into his neck, spraying deep red blood onto her white doctors coat. The man flailed around on the bed, reaching frantically at the blade in his neck. 

“There is no cure for death,” she stood up, exited the room, and locked the door, leaving the screaming man to bleed out onto the floor.


	3. Where has the music gone?

Everyone watched as Erin disappeared into a bathroom down the hall, except Grayce, who

followed her inside.

Erin’s blue eyes were glazed over as she concentrated on washing the dark red blood off her hands. Slowly she dipped a clean towel in the white 6 gallon bucket of water, and scrubbed it from between her fingers.

“You did what was right,” Grayce gently placed a hand on her shoulder, looking up at her in the mirror.

“In 7 years, I will have new skin and I won’t have his blood on my hands,” she wiped the water off on her dark jeans.

“You won’t remember this in 7 years,” Grayce continued, moving next to her.

“We should remember the lives we take.”

“He wasn’t alive. He was long gone.”

“He had a life before that, we should cherish it.”

“We should cherish the man who almost killed Allison and Noah?! I don’t care who he was beforehand, no pleading or praying or bribing could change what he did.”

“Let’s get back, I don’t want them to think we’re dead or anything,” Erin said, moving past Grayce, back to everyone. Grayce followed behind, slightly frustrated at her ignorance.

 

“We should get a few people to go out and get supplies,” Konstantine rested Noah against the wall, “maybe we can find some food or extra clothes.”

“I’ll go,” Marissa stepped forward, picking up a backpack, “It’ll only take a few hours maybe more.”

“I’ll go with you,” Kevin picked up another backpack, “We’re running low on food.” Kevin nodded to Konstantine, who nodded back.

“Be careful please, and don’t fuck up,” Konstantine pressed a kiss to Marissa’s forehead before looking to Kevin, “Don’t let her fuck up.” Kevin nodded and turned to Grayce,

“Don’t miss me too much,” he smirked, hugging her carefully to avoid bumping into her stitches.

“Come back alive, or I’ll have to kill you,” she said, squeezing him tightly.

“Not sure how you’ll kill me twice, but I’ll come back, I promise baby carrot,” he squeezed her hand once more before following Marissa out the door. Both came running back inside quickly to grab their weapons, a knife, and an axe.

After about 2 hours, they reached an abandoned department store and grabbed 3 new sets of clothes and found the holy grail in the ‘employee's only’ room, a vending machine.

Kevin took the axe and slammed it into the glass front, shattering glass all over the floor. Both of them stuffed their bags, and mouths, with as much food as they could before heading back outside to investigate another pharmaceutical store further down the road.

Kevin searched the shelves, while Marissa found a way to break into the back room where all the prescription medicines were located. Most of them were expired, but the few she found were stuffed inside her bag. _Will people need those? We need them more,_ She thought to herself, moving on.

Kevin managed to find a bottle of allergy meds and two boxes of advil. On their way out, Marissa grabbed a mixed box of tampons and pads for when it’s THAT time.

“We should find somewhere to settle down for the night, unless you think we can make it back,” Kevin said adjusting the now fully puffed out backpack, “It’s up to you.”

“We can make it back, I don’t feel entirely safe with just us two out here- Not that I don’t trust you or anything,” Marissa concluded nervously, stepping out of the store through the broken window back onto the city sidewalk.

“We’d better hurry, I don’t want to run into anyone out here,” Kevin said as he started to jog with Marissa following close behind.

Meanwhile, back at base, an argument erupted between Maddy and Konstantine.

“He doesn’t need his heart restarted, Maddy. For fucks sake, he’s just knocked out right now. He’s got a steady heart beat,” the tall one exclaimed, looking down at Maddy.

“He could be in a coma, the shock could wake him up before it’s too late!” Maddy shouted back, tugging at the defibrillator.

“Let the kid rest, he’s had a long day,” Konstantine ripped it out of Maddy’s hands and placed it on top of a high shelf.

“Aw, fuck you man,” Maddy shoved him back, “If someone really needs it, we’re not gonna be able to bring it back down fast enough.”

“Fine, but only if you don’t attempt to jumpstart a heart that already beating,” Konstantine moved the machine back onto the counter it was originally.

“Fine,” Maddy crossed her arms, moving to sit next to Allison

“Who put him in charge anyways,” Allison rolled her eyes, picking at the dirt under her nails.

“I think we should be in charge,” she pushed up her glasses, placing her hands on her hips.

“Let’s be serious, we’d accidentally get everyone killed,” she laughed, nudging Maddy, who joined her.

Keith was next to Noah, looking between the floor, his granola bar, and his unconscious brother still slouched against the wall.

“I’m moving him into a bed,” Keith finished the bar, shoving the wrapper into his back pocket. Gingerly, he picked up Noah and moved him into Grayce’s old room. “You’ll be just fine,” Keith set him down and pulled the thin sheet over his chest to keep him warm.

Meanwhile, Drew and Allison set to work at cleaning up the room the crazy guy had been executed in earlier. It reeked of rot and sickly iron. The smell of his dead, rotting corpse is like getting hit by a wall of disgust. The two of them had to plug their noses to avoid throwing up.

The blood had dried by the time they arrived with enough cleaning supplies to wash it off the bed and floor.

“I’m just afraid to move the body,” Drew knelt down, scrubbing the floor, “What if it reanimated itself or something creepy?”

“I’m sure it won’t. We haven’t seen any types of revival or regeneration from the infected. Hopefully we never will,” Allison wrapped up the bed sheets and put them in a garbage bag to be thrown out.

“What are we even going to do with the corpse?” Allison leaned against the wall next to Drew, their shoulders touching slightly.

“Probably throw it in the dumpster outside,” Drew shrugged.

“But what if it attracts more zombies to us?” Allison turned to him, then back to the dead man before them.

“I don’t think it will. He’s already half-zombified from that bite on his upper arm,” Drew stood up, grabbing another garbage bag and placing it over the top half of the remains. Allison took rubber bands and placed them tightly over his body.

“Let’s just get him out of here,” Allison pushed him off the bed grabbed his feet while Drew took his torso and drug him outside. They tossed him into the trash can, hoping the smell wouldn’t attract more undead.

 

Marissa and Kevin both slowed down as they went to turn the corner down an alleyway. In the middle were a group of 10-12 zombies, all gnawing on a family of 4.

“Should we try to go around them?” Kevin whispered, peering over Marissa.

“We can take them, it’ll be fine,” Marissa moved out into the open, holding her knife ready, but Kevin grabbed her forearm, pulling her back.

“There’s too many, we can take on this many at once,” Kevin wiped the sweat off his forehead, “I’m not gonna do anything stupid, let’s go around. They’ll be more zombie’s to quench your thirst for blood later,” Kevin turned and started running again. The sun was setting in the distance, and they still had a mile to go. With only about a bottle of water in their systems, dehydration and exhaustion we’re setting in.

 _Halfway there, we’re halfway there. You’ve gotta be_ **_fucking_** _kidding me_ she thought, pulling out her knife as she saw half a dozen zombies approaching her.

“We should run now,” Kevin bolted right expecting Marissa to follow, but she stayed where she was, the zombies getting closer and closer to her.

Eyes are the window to the soul, but Marissa saw nothing but glazed over emptiness. Foam dripped from their groaning mouths as the drug their feet across the s pavement like a drunk stumbling from a bar, but less lively and a little bit more dead inside.

“Marissa! Let’s go!” Kevin shouted from across the street, but she couldn’t look away from the rot across their bodies and the ripped clothes on their backs. It wasn’t until a medium built, male zombie wearing tattered khakis and a dirtied blue polo tried to reach out and grab her did she realize she was surrounded. Marissa plunged the knife through his forehead, twisting it out and kicking him into his undead friend behind him. Kevin came in from the side, slicing both of them in half and crushing their skulls with the butt-end of the axe.

_2 down, 4 to go._

Marissa launched herself at the next one, a young woman in runner’s attire. Marissa grabbed her arm and flipped the infected over her shoulder. She repeatedly slammed her foot into it’s head until she heard another one come up from behind her. She rolled to avoid it’s bite and stomped on it’s knee, causing it to crumple onto the ground. From there, she drove the knife into it’s skull multiple times, finishing it off.

_Just 2 more._

Kevin pushed on of the zombies back before pulling the axe back like a bat and swinging, knocking its head off.

“Home run!” He shouted, not realizing there was one more approaching him from the side. Marissa threw the knife at s the zombie, hitting it’s shoulder and delaying it just long enough for the MLB All-Star to swing straight down and crack its skull open, the brain-stew spilling out onto the asphalt.

6/6 BINGO

“You’re not supposed to let me do stupid shit,” Marissa playfully punched Kevin’s shoulder.

“You’re the one who wanted to fight rabid humans,” he raised his eyebrows, lugging the bloodied cleaver over his shoulder.

“Let’s get out of here before more show up,” Marissa rolled her eyes, wiping the ooze off on her pants and placing it in her belt.

“Agreed,” they both made their way back to camp, unlocking and entering through the back door to avoid any unwanted attention.

 

After hiking three flights of stairs, the two practically collapsed onto the water bucket, dipping the plastic cups and chugging. Konstantine was the first to notice their s arrival, then Allison, then Maddy, who told everyone by shrieking joyously at their return.

“You’re alive!” Maddy cried out, pulling Marissa into a hug.

“But you are covered in zombie guts, are you okay?” Konstantine examined Marissa before pulling her into a hug.

“You should’ve seen us! There was 6 of them, all coming right at me. So I shove my knife into his head and spartan kick s it backwards into the guy behind, knocking the both into Kevin’s axe swing, cutting them both in half. Of course we stomped on their heads afterwards to finish their execution…” And the both of them went on like gleeful children about the city and the pharmacy and the department store and how next time they should bring more people and more water to carry more stuff.

 

 _What time is it?_ He thought, looking round the room blankly. The last thing he remember was a fire extinguisher slammed into his head. _Who’s touching my arm?_ His thought floated around in his head. Slowly he looked over to see Erin patching up some smaller s cuts on his arm.

“What time is it?” Noah’s voice was slow as he carefully chose his words.

“12:07 am, you should try to sleep. You have a concussion,” she grabbed a towel and wrapped it around one of those ice packs you shake to make cold.

“Why are you awake?” he took the ice pack from her warm hands and pressed it lightly atop the goose egg.

“What does it look like,” _Lie, I’m here to clear my conscious,_ She stood up from the stool, “Go back to sleep.” Erin turned off the lights and left the room, the only brightness was from the fire outside his room.

“I think we could turn this place into a refuge for other survivors,” Drew leaned back against the wall.

“We barely have enough supplies to support ourselves. How are we going to support 15, 20 more people?” Konstantine debated seriously.

“We could at least try,” Maddy pulled out her ponytail and ran her hands through her hair.

“I should be able to go out tomorrow and get more supplies,” Grayce commented looking to Kevin.

“We should take Erin too, that way we know what to grab so we aren’t stealing random medications,” Marissa said, thinking back to earlier that day.

“So Marissa, Erin, Grayce, and I will go on another expedition tomorrow?” Kevin looked around for confirmation.

“I’ll go too,” Keith piped up, staring intently at the fire. Maddy looked over to him with a no-don’t-go-and-leave-me look, but he ignored it.

“So it’s settled. While you five are out, the rest of us can set up some rooms to house more people. If you really want this, you have to work for it, deal?” Konstantine looked to Drew and Maddy, then at the rest of the group

“We can handle it,” he smiled optimistically.

“Yeah! We can handle it!” Maddy screamed childishly. Konstantine rolled his shat colored eyes and in response Drew snorted. Konstantine gently pushed Maddy’s head to the side.

“Whatever,” He smirked and walked away. Drew followed him initiating conversation with,

“Do you think they’ll find chips?”

Maddy, now alone, looked up at the defibulator and furrowed her brows. She walked to the shelf with her hands on her hips. Looked around quickly before stretching up, trying to reach the defibrillator. Her fingertips brushed it. Maddy sighed in defeat,

“I’ll find a way...” She turned on her s heel and ran into the hallway. She ran up behind Konstantine and jumped on his back. He stumbled a little,

“What the hell Maddy,” a smile was spreading across his face.

“What do you expect I’m lazy!-” She pointed dramatically, “-Now mush slave!”

Konstantine sped walk and slowly crept up in speed before stopping in front of a room that was currently a mess.

“Clean this one up. Don’t bitch and moan about it either,” He said and set her back on her feet.

As he walked away Maddy stuck her tongue out on his  and flipped him the bird. “I’ll show you clean,” she muttered.

On the other end of the hall Drew feverishly made beds and picked up random junk. He bent over and picked up two miscellaneous syringes, shoving them in a random drawer.

“Finished with this room.” Drew performed his own mini dance and cheer. Suddenly music blasted through the hall. Drew whipped his head out the doorway only to see Maddy eagerly holding a portable CD player.

“Check this out! I found it in one of the hospital rooms!” She shouted down the hall, pop music playing from the device. Drew smiled goofily and set down the CD player and swung Maddy around. Her tiny frame could hardly keep up with his long legs but she somehow managed.

 

Kevin slammed a walker up against a brick wall and stabbed it through its decaying skull. Grayce smirked, obviously impressed with his strength. It was no longer a walker pressed up the wall it was Kevin who Grayce had pinned, using all her strength to kiss him. Her hands lustfully ran up his shirt, holding them closer together.

His hands traveled to her ass as he pulled up her thigh, his other was placed on her low back. Their tongues swirled together, battling for dominance as he lifted her up so she was straddling him.

From down the hallway, Kevin heard the music.

“Where’s that coming from?” Kevin moved the kisses down her neck.

“We should go see,” Grayce said as she was let down and curiously peeked around the corner. Maddy and Drew were dancing together, along with Marissa and Konstantine.

“I wanna dance too!” the blonde ran around the corner, dragging the hunk with her. “Do you remember?” Kevin spun her into a dip and looked down, his face close to hers.

“Of course,” he pulled her back up, beginning to grind against her in the Bachata.

“See! You can kinda dance!” Marissa shouted to Konstantine. He shrugged and moved his body according to hers.

“But, I prefer to dance like this,” Konstantine said and pressed his body against hers moving slowly together. From across the room Maddy looked Keith dead in the eyes.

“C’mon I know you’ve wanted to dance again since prom,” Maddy spun away from Drew and advanced toward Keith awkwardly.

“That was before,” Keith said, his hand moving to the back of his neck.

“Before what? You cheated on me?” She stopped dead in her steps.

“That’s not what I meant, Maddy,” He reached out to grab her hand, but she pulled away.

“How could you do that to someone who loved you as much as I did,” Maddy quietly screamed, her hands balled into fists of rage as she stomped back onto the dance floor.

“Dammit,” Keith ran his hands through his hair.

“Don’t worry bro, we’ll get her next time,” Allison snapped her fingers sarcastically before walking over to Maddy and dancing with her. Girl power.

The song changed to something slower and Maddy lowered her head onto Allison’s shoulder silent tears ran down her face.

Kevin pulled Grayce up against him. He held her by the waist, her small feet rested on his like a child.

“This is nice,” Kevin said into Grayces long blonde hair.

“Even with a swollen face?” She asked him wistfully. Kevin looked down at her, brushing his thumb against her cheek lightly.

“One scar doesn’t change how beautiful you are,” he pressed his forehead to hers, staring deeply into her eyes. A slight blush covered her cheeks.

“You guys are so fucking cute,” Marissa said to the two of them. She had her cheek pressed up against Konstantines chest and he was looking down at her with complete adoration and love.

Drew leaned up against the wall opposite to Allison and Maddy. Keith grumpily watched the two. Drew lightly nudged Keith with his elbow and he looked up at Drew.

“Wanna dance?” Drew joked. Keith scoffed in response.

“Don’t you have a thing for Allison?”

“Pffft ha,” Drew leaned awkwardly against the wall next to Keith, “is it obvious?”

“Not too much,” he reassured him, looking at the floor.

“You swear?” Drew said childishly. Keith rolled his eyes.

“Trust me Drew, I just notice things I’m not supposed to,” Keith said honestly.

“So you know, Maddy is like one of my best friends. I want you to be careful with her. She doesn't act like it but she's fragile,” Drew said nervously. He was scared of overstepping any kind of boundaries.

Before Keith could respond the song sped up again. Drew gave him a slight wave and ran off now dancing with Allison and Maddy. He bowed dramatically to both Allison and Maddy, but directed himself towards Allison.

“May I have this dance Lady Kehoe?” He asked with a smirk.

“Wha-” Allison was cut off by Maddy, who shoved her into Drew’s arms.

Maddy literally waltzed off singing, leaving the two to themselves. Drew danced beside Allison and she awkwardly followed.

Drew cautiously grabbed her by the hips and gently guided her to his movement until the two moved in sync. It was a scene of pure innocence. Allison looked down at her feet in an attempt to protect Drew's feet from her own, but still managed to crush his toes once or twice.

“Sorry, I'm not the best dancer,” Allison muttered, slightly embarrassed.

“It's okay, I'm not either,” Drew shrugged spinning her. Drew smiled down at Allison and the two continued to dance together slowly. Allison stepped closer, resting her head on against his chest.

“I’m glad you don’t smell as bad as those hospital rooms did,” Allison joked. Drew rested his head against hers.

“They were so nasty,” Drew laughed. Allison could feel his nervous heartbeat quicken. They felt the room disappear around them, and only they mattered in that moment.

Marissa walked over to Maddy who was sitting alone in a corner.

“You okay?” worry laced her words as she spoke.

“No, not really. Keith and I….we just…” Maddy looked down with obvious regret, “We’re just not getting along. Not like we used to.” Marissa sat down next to Maddy.

“You know what. We should put signs up in the city telling people to come to the hospital. That way we can help others,” Marissa nudged her, “and you know get some cute boys for ya.”

“It sounds stupid, but I don’t want just any cute boy. I want his skinny white ass.” She complained looking at Keith with a mix of lust and love. Marissa glanced at Maddy with a grin,

“You don’t have to order, but you can still look at the menu.” Maddy met her glance and said,

“Maybe I will.” Marissa stood, brushed the dust off her pants and offered her hand to the small brunette.

“Will you accept my offer to dance?” Maddy grinned and jumped up, “Hell yeah, we are independant women who don’t need no men.” The two danced like they were drunk on their own giggles.They bumped into the others, swayed off beat and stepped on each others feet. Marissa attempted to spin Maddy, however Maddy lost her balance and went sprawling to the floor, pulling Marissa with her. The two rolled around, giggling hysterically. Everyone else had stopped dancing and watched. A couple of them were laughing as well. Konstantine had a hand over his face. Allison was using Kevin's shoulder to keep her from falling to the ground with the two other girls. Tears were streaming down Grayce’s face as she too laughed. Keith had a smile on his face.

Marissa pushed herself up and rested on her arms. Maddy was still splayed on her back giggling.

“WHEN YOU TOUCH ME, WHEN YOU HOLD MEEEEE! IT’S SO POWERFUL!!” Maddy belted out the lyrics off key, but they meant something. She hastily pushed herself up,  bumping into a flimsy table. The object on the table slipped off and collided with Maddys tan face. She felt something warm trickle down the middle of her face. She brought her hand to her face touching her forehead. When she moved her fingers away they were covered in blood.

The room was silent. Maddys eyes welled up with tears,

“Ouch…” She burst into tears as blood dripped off her nose and onto the front of her pants. Keith pushed his way through the small group that was gathered around her. He leaned down and scooped her up. She started to wail and blubber, “K-Keith...K-K-K-Keith…” Keith shushed her and carried her into the room where Noah was sleeping.

He shifted her in his arms and opened the door. Erin jumped up, wiping tears from her eyes,

“What?” Keith walked to the table in the middle of the room and set Maddy down gently. The girl was still blubbering incoherently. He quietly asked if she’d need stitches. He ignored the fact that Erin had been crying.

“K-Keith, I’m going to be u-ugly.” She sobbed on.

“No no, that's dumb,” he wrapped his arms around her shoulders, pulling her tightly to his chest.

“Noo I don’t want to get blood on your shirt,” Maddy tried to pull away, but he held her tighter.

“It's fine shh,” Keith slowly rocked her back and forth, stroking her curly brown hair.

“Umm…” Erin made her way to Maddy, her face now dry. “I don’t think she’ll need stitches, just one of these here butterfly bandages,” Erin said and whipped out a bandage. Erin padded over her wounds with an alcohol wipe, squished the skin together and placed a bandage over it. She wiped off her hands and smiled at Maddy.

 

**Author's Note:**

> comment and kudos please. <3


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